House's Head
by elfmaiden4legs
Summary: Wilson's point of view regarding House and his condition during the season 4 finale!


**House's Head, Wilson's Heart**

**This is the first part of a two part story I'm writing based on House's Head & Wilson's Heart. Bascially this is mostly from Wilson's point of view and how he feels concern about his friend during these two episodes! Obviously this first chapter focuses on the main events of House's Head and the second (once I've written it) will focus on Wilson's Heart. I never believed that Wilson completely gave on House, or their friendship... and I suppose this is the product of that. I hope you enjoy, and please don't forget to REVIEW!**

**1**

The first Wilson heard of House's involvement in the accident; the recent bus crash which had been on the news, the victims of which were being brought into both of the local hospitals in order to manage the scale of the incident, was when he'd been brought into the Emergency Room. It had been a case of all hands on deck as soon as Princeton-Plainsboro had heard that they were going to be called upon in order to provide aid to cope with the recent emergency, and Wilson who'd been assigned to work elsewhere in the hospital at the time had responded as soon as Cameron had paged him.

There was a deep gash to the side of his friend's head, and his distinct pallor, the thin film of sweat soaking his forehead, and sunken eyes were indicative of the trauma he'd obviously been through, severe pain, and very probably a serious concussion.

He sighed, approaching his friend with poorly concealed concern as House had glanced around the Emergency Room with bleary eyes, gently reaching out to manipulate his friend's jaw and turn the wounded side of his head to face him as Cameron prepared to stitch the wound.

House looked exhaustedly back at him, but with a familiar edge of defiance as Wilson held his gaze.

"What have you gone and done now?" He sighed.

**2**

Wilson was in his office when he received the second page of the evening regarding House, and, unsettled by the apparent urgency in Thirteen's message for him to call her back, wasted no time in responding to the young intern's request for help.

'House is hallucinating… meet us in the ER ASAP!!!'

House was hallucinating… he frowned. Definitely something more severe than a simple concussion had to be going on inside House's head then, he thought to himself as he jogged urgently through the bustling corridors, taking his quickest route to the hospital emergency room. As if a concussion as severe as the one House very likely had wasn't enough… possibly a significant bleed somewhere… extensive bruising… or even swelling could be causing the pressure to build up around House's brain… that alone could be causing him to hallucinate… but he'd need to do an MRI in order to confirm and diagnose anything.

He could hear his friend's shouting as soon as he emerged through the doors of the emergency room however, and at least had no trouble in locating the small group. Although what he saw made him stop in his tracks as he turned the corner and observed House talking with Thirteen… no, not talking with her, talking at her, as though he was seeing but not registering her… as though, somehow, he was having a conversation with someone else… somebody who wasn't there.

"You weren't on the bus… five hundred dollar shoes, not on the Princeton cross town…" He was saying.

Wilson exchanged a brief glance with Thirteen, who managed to communicate with him that something was definitely wrong… Wilson sighed, House was defiantly going to need an MRI he concluded… and with this he made his way purposefully over.

"Yes… what you have to tell me…" House swung round abruptly as Wilson clamped his hand firmly down on the other man's left shoulder… the sudden shock bringing his friend out of whatever state of semi-consciousness he'd been in immediately, before, eyes wide with initial shock he finally turned on Wilson as he observed his friend standing before him.

"I was talking to the passengers on the bus!" He yelled.

Wilson held his ground unfalteringly however, observing his friend's current physical state, before explaining. "You were hallucinating… you're getting an MRI!"

**3**

'This was serious' Wilson sighed as he observed the crack in House's skull clearly visible now upon the MRI scan… a slight bleed and definite extensive swelling the probable resultant of which… and in all likelihood the probable cause of House's hallucinations. He made a print out of the results, before quickly switching off the monitors in the observation bay, and leaving to help his friend out of the machine.

Cuddy would have to be informed… House on the other hand would have no choice but to take it easy and rest now for the following few days. Any excessive stress could cause the crack in his skull to widen, and result in a brain bleed… which could, to any extent, prove fatal!

He paused just inside the door of the observation bay, leading to the corridor which connected the two rooms. Leaning against the door frame he allowed himself to hand his conscious mind over to a brief moment of ill concealed concern, before facing House… he knew that his best friend wouldn't appreciate it… before paging Cuddy. It didn't take the Hospital Administrator long to get to a phone and call him back, once she received his message.

"We have a problem…" He announced, as he heard the young woman's voice on the other end, allowing the phone to ring out a couple of times before picking up the line to the small room. "He has a dema, and some localised swelling to the section of the temporal lobe which controls his shot-term memory… the bleed is causing the pressure to build up around his brain, which is probably why he can't remember anything about or shortly before the crash."

Wilson paused, hearing her sigh on the other end of the internal line; whether through concern, her evident frustration towards her Head of Diagnostics, or her relief that nothing more serious had been turned up though the MRI, before continuing.

"There's more…" He explained. "There's a longitudinal fracture of the temporal bone… House has a serious skull fracture!" He concluded.

The line went silent at this however… and Wilson, understanding the fear, the shock, immediately realised that Cuddy's silent… or more appropriately, lack of response to this new revelation could be down to nothing other than her own deep concern. He paused emphatically for a moment, allowing time for this fresh influx of information to sink in… he wasn't entirely sure that he'd yet allowed himself enough time to recognise the serious nature of House's injury… the doctor within him completely accepted the irrefutable evidence of his friend's test results… the friend within however him could not.

"Wilson will you hurry up and get me out of this thing!" He heard House shout him from the other room however, as he sighed, and smiled slightly, the gesture full of melancholy as he shook his head. Even in ill-health House could be just as temperamental, bad tempered and impatient as usual… Some things never changed.

At last he heard as Cuddy let go of an afflicted sigh, subsequently breaking the uncomfortable and painful silence between them, before finally speaking out in a shaky tone. "So he's worse…" She concluded.

"Fraid so." Wilson nodded. "Listen, wait for us in the ER. I want to explain to him what's going on and make sure that he's comfortable first. We'll meet you there as soon as possible."

"Do you think he'd tell you even if he wasn't?" Cuddy asked, and Wilson with this, closed his eyes despairingly… exhaling an anxious breath.

"No… probably not…" He admitted, as he replaced the receiver, pausing briefly by the door before, finally, going to help House out of the machine, as Cuddy did the same and with that the line went dead.

**4**

House sat alone in the hospital cafeteria. There was nobody around at this early hour in the morning in order to observe as he scribbled disjointed notes down onto a large pad of cream coloured paper… and everybody else that was still there were either too busy taking care of their patient's, still stuck working in the hospital's far too overcrowded ER, or making the most of the lull in frantic activity for now, and catching as much sleep as they still could… curled up in their many offices and conference rooms, upon recliners, leather couches, and heads resting heavily against hard wooden desks. Which was where House was fully aware Cuddy hoped himself to be now… grateful that the Hospital Administrator didn't realise just how wrong she really was.

She'd sent him home to sleep, and he was really rather relieved that she wasn't around to witness his deceit, to observe him working when he should have been resting. He wouldn't normally have cared, but the pain in his head had been getting progressively worse all evening… and he really couldn't deal with the lecture right now.

Suddenly however, the pain in his head became almost unbearable; a raging fire in his skull as his brain started to swell to three times its regular size, throbbing and squeezing against his cranium, as a burning hot poker was pressed forcefully against either side of his temples, pain radiating from the inside out… until, in his agony, House felt that his head might explode.

He screwed his eyes tightly shut, sweat pricking the pale skin of his brow, as he squeezed his hands into fists to either side of his skull with the pain. 'Where was Wilson when he needed him?' House thought, as seconds began to feel like unbearable, agonising hours, before the pain eventually appeared to subside.

As he looked around with a heavy sigh there was nobody around to witness his moment of excruciating discomfort however, and House didn't tell anyone what had just happened… simply continued on with his work.

**5**

"Hey, has anyone seen House?" Cuddy asked, as both she and Wilson entered the board room adjacent to House's office a few hours later. They'd both spent the best part of the past twenty minutes searching the hospital for him, to no avail, and the look of alarm carved into both of their features clearly highlighted their deep concern. "I sent him home to rest, but he hasn't been checked out by any of the nurses or administration staff, and nobody's seen him in at least the last hour." She explained.

"Yes…" Thirteen faltered, as all four members of House's team looked up at this, frowning as she observed the expression painted upon both doctor's concerned faces. All eyes with this turned to her expectantly. "He was taking a bath the last I saw him… about fifteen minutes ago." She explained. "He said something about sensory deprivation provoking his brain into an alpha data phase… giving his brain time to transition… to be honest," She sighed, "He wasn't really making much sense."

"What do you mean?" Cuddy asked impatiently, prompting the young diagnostician to elaborate on this.

"Well…" She continued, stumbling under her senior's cautionary gaze, "He kept going on about this film…" She frowned, "Altered States? Didn't seem to remember what year it was… he just seemed confused."

"Yeah… I saw him beforehand." Foreman explained, brow furrowed, the deep focus lines framing his forehead, indicative of his own deep concern and urgency to concentrate. "I must admit, even for a guy with a skull fracture and concussion he didn't really seem like himself…" He explained, "and… he was bleeding from the ear." He informed them.

Wilson's heart immediately skipped a beat with this, making him feel sick. They all knew that House's injury had been a serious one, but bleeding from the ear could be symptomatic of a whole range of even more serious complications… the crack in his skull could have widened, the wound could have been even worse than they had initially thought, causing his brain to bleed.

"What?" He looked alarmed. "Bleeding from the ear… that's not a good sign!" He frowned.

"Where is he?" Cuddy asked, turning to Thirteen with a renewed sense of urgency as Wilson realised that she too had been plagued by exactly the same concerns. "We need to find him, now!"

"I… I shouldn't have left him should I?" Thirteen asked.

"No! No, you shouldn't have…" Cuddy sighed, as the small group left the office in haste, Wilson hoping against hope that Thirteen's incompetence hadn't cost his friend to dearly… hallucinations, disorientation and now bleeding were symptoms that House's brain injury was probably getting worse… he could haemorrhage or lose consciousness at any time!

"Patient with a serious brain injury…" Taub muttered impatiently under his breath as he adopted a slow jog to keep up. "No, of course you did the right thing! If this was anybody other than House there's no way you would have complied!"

Wilson observed as Thirteen threw her colleague a menacing look as they entered the hygiene room with this, a few minutes later, although he couldn't care for their petty indifferences and attempts to score points off each other… all of which could be settled in their own time, when their bosses life wasn't on the line, as far as he was concerned.

As Thirteen opened up the lid to the bath, he was still somewhat shocked however to discover how pale House was, as he put one arm out to shield his eyes from the unrelenting glare of the light.

They all stood and

"Help him up!" Cuddy ordered finally as he stared dazedly around at each of them in turn, although House had already scrambled to his feet of his own accord.

"I've got it." He explained, referring to his patient. "It's Parkinson's."

"House your ear…" Thirteen suddenly exclaimed, pointing as she observed the blood trickling down his earlobe, oozing profusely from his ear canal.

"Start him on Lebadopa." He prescribed.

"You should sit down!" Wilson advised, expression consumed with concern, as he observed his friend's eyes start to close, pupils glazed and unfocused. He grasped his friend's upper arm supportively, before being forced to leap out of the way quickly as House suddenly vomited, and he witnessed as the hospital's Head of Diagnostics swayed, careening backwards before collapsing.

"House!" Cuddy cried, as all five doctors rushed forward at once in order to steady him, Wilson watched as foreman caught hold of him underneath the armpits and dragged him towards the side of the bath, resting him up against the edge, as she immediately pressed three fingers to the side of House's jugular, in search of a pulse.

"Pulse is still strong." The hospital administrator explained, and Wilson sighed with relief. "We need to start him on an IV and get some fluids into him." She advised.

"He needs to be admitted." Wilson concluded, but Cuddy shook her head.

"I'll make arrangements for him to be cared for at home." She explained. "He needs to be as far away from the hospital as possible at the moment. That way he'll have no choice but to rest!"

Their eyes met in silent understanding for a moment, before Wilson nodded in agreement… observing his friend with pained and anxious turmoil before turning to watch Cuddy leave as she went to arrange House's care.

As she left Wilson looked down at his friend's unconscious form, as Thirteen, Taub, and Foreman struggled to help him out of the bath, and Kutner went to find a towel in order to dry him off. Wilson gently bent down at his friend's side…

"House…" He sighed.

**6**

Wilson looked on in horror as House collapsed, the whole group rushing forward as a whole in order to try and help, as Cuddy who was closest quickly knelt down beside his body, Wilson immediately bending down at his friend's feet.

"House!" She called urgently to him, to be met with no response. "Greg!"… Wilson had seldom heard her use his friend's full name before.

"House!" He yelled, icy dread beginning to rise in the pit of his stomach… he wasn't moving. "Oh God!" He exclaimed, as he realised that he wasn't breathing.

Cuddy immediately placed two fingers to the side of House's jugular. "There's no pulse…" She confirmed, urgently at this. "No heart rhythm… Wilson…" She cried. "He's in full cardiac arrest!"

"What?" Wilson asked her. "House, you idiot!" He cursed, as he cleared the area around his friend's body, pushing his way through as the small group of doctor's quickly gathered around the figure of the man they'd either once practiced under, or currently worked alongside, in their alarm. "Starting chest compressions!" He informed Cuddy, as she started artificial respiration. "You know, I could do with a little extra room here." He snapped, as the small group of doctor's finally took a step back.

He could just as easily have fallen apart… the pain, the fear, the grief… House was his best friend… he couldn't lose him, wouldn't lose him! Not now! Not like this!

"It's not working!" Cuddy suppressed a sob after a few minutes, minutes which were already beginning to feel like hours, the breath catching in her throat as she spoke… he could tell that this was hurting her almost as much as it hurt him.

"Come on House!" Wilson sighed, as he gave up on the chest compressions, and, making a fist, slammed his friend hard in the chest… again… and again… and again… alternating with more chest compressions until he was exhausted himself from the effort.

'_Come on!'_

… Cuddy breathing one last breath into House's static lungs… before, finally House took a small breath and opened his eyes.

"He's coming out of it!" Cuddy observed, and Kutner reached down to place two fingers, gently to the side of House's neck.

"Strong pulse." He informed them.

He hadn't died… today, and Wilson, leaning back on his haunches sighed in relief.


End file.
